How do refined bikes, 10 years in the making, like the 26″ wheeled Trek Remedy, hold up against the likes of a new skool, 29er AM rig, like the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc? You might be surprised. If nothing else, if you’re in the market for a new mountain bike, make sure you ride a lot of them, and as you narrow your selection down, make sure you do the all important “back to back to back” final rides and selection process. Admittedly, when you have a 26″ wheeled bike compared to a 29″ wheeled bike, it isn’t quite the same type of riding experience… or it it? [Read more…]

Keep your eyes on the Yellow Jacket! We weren’t sure if people would take our Santa Cruz “testimonial” video the right way. Sure, we know it’s all in good fun – even “The MB” himself thinks it’s funny and all in good fun but… In any event, it looks like people from the US, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Malaysia and more all agree: The MB rules.

Point of View, or POV, video cameras have gone from “what’s that thing on that guy’s helmet” a few years ago, to an every day, every rider accessory. We sit down with GoPro’s Travis Pynn, to learn a bit more about the phenomena and what we can expect to see in the future out of GoPro.

Santa Cruz’s new “bare” finish means that when your bike picks up nicks and scratches, you will hardly see them. When you’re thinking about what color or finish for your new mountain bike, you might want to plan for the long term.

Bob Loeffler, the creator of Bikeskills’ New Rider Day program, works a McLeod Fire Tool and World Champion mountain biker Joe Lawwill has a set of hedge shears under control. Read more about how Joe and Bob braved the heat to help SoCal riders gain access to some new single track in SoCal.

This coming model year will see the first, true, 10 speed mountain bikes. While many will grumble about thinner chains and tighter tolerances leading to more problems, others will realize that with 10 cogs in the back, they might only need two chain rings up front while others will opt for the simplicity and reliability of a single ring crank up front. But there’s a lot to consider..

Bikeskills’ Greg Minnaar flashes by on his way to another win in the 2010 UCI World Cup Series. Greg has been very consistent this year with first, third, and first place finishes in the still-early World Cup Series. What might be mountain biking’s most spectacular event is also the sports’ most skill-intensive. Read on to learn the basics from the very best, Greg Minnaar.

At the base of the mountain that many feel nurtured the growth of mountain biking, a couple of progressive parents are doing what they can to ensure the next generation of mountain bikers get a head start on all mountain riding. Stay tuned for more.

Spring is here in much of the US; and on the way to the rest of it. If you’re like most mountain bikers, it’s been a while since you’ve ridden or taken a good look your ride. So before you grab your trusty steep and ride off only to find a mid-ride problem, here’s a checklist of things to take a look at, some adjustments to make, in order to ensure you and your bike take care of one another and remain friends.

This is pretty much the way we have been conditioned to make purchases: a continuum from the most basic to the most advanced and feature laden. The problem is that we’ve also been conditioned and led to believe that more features necessarily means better; and that more features cost more, justify higher prices with the end result being: you get what you pay for. Let’s take a look at that from the ground up… using shoes as an example. [Read more…]